The total number of requests for TV and radio programmes rose 24 per cent year-on-year to 190 million in the period from January to the end of April.

Radio use of the iPlayer was boosted by demand for football coverage on BBC Radio 5Live. Among the most listened-to radio programmes in April were 5Live’s coverage of the Champions League (Barcelona v Chelsea), Premier League (Manchester City v Manchester United) and FA Cup (Liverpool v Everton).

The BBC said it would publish iPlayer statistics on a monthly basis from now on. The report does not include requests for web-only content (such as online news clips) – only requests for full-length programmes which have been transmitted on a TV channel or radio station.

The BBC is planning to link its catch-up TV service with Twitter and Facebook. The new version of the iPlayer will allow viewers to comment and chat about what they are watching without leaving the service. Similar services have been tested for one-off events by other broadcasters using the Facebook Connect tool and by sites such as Livestream, but this is a notable step by the BBC towards internet-connected television.

This comes from the distant past of last week, but this interview with Erik Huggers, (the man who should be at the forefront of everything technology at the BBC, given his job title) is worth a look and was flagged up on the BBC’s Internet blog yesterday.

Huggers is the BBC’s director of future media and technology and he spoke at last week’s MIP 2008 conference.

In his speech he looked at:

“The challenges facing broadcasters as the pace of change accelerates, and how they must evolve to ensure a consistent experience across all platforms – without compromising quality.”

BBC considering launching iPlayer on Freeview, as part of a project Canvas, which is looking at delivering web content to televisions, in ways that could also be used by other broadcasters and content owners.